Connecting bar



F. SCHAEFER CONNECTING BAR Filed Nov. 12 1919 HNVIENTDR f 2 v4 g g E Patented Get. e, 1923.

FREDERIC SOHAEFER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONNECTING BAR.

Application filed November 12, 1919. Serial No. 337,598.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'Fnnonruo SoI-mnrnn,

a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Connecting Bars, of which the following is a specifiration.

This invention relates to pressed metal bars, such as are used for connecting the brake levers of railway trucks, push rods for brake. cylinders, and similar purposes. Among the objects of the invention are to provide a bar or rod of the kind described which is very light but at the same time sufficiently strong, which is reinforced against bending and tensile strains at all weak points, and yet which gives extended bearing upon pivot pins or rivets by which it is connected to other members, and which requires a minimum amount of metal.

Referring to the drawings .Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank or plate from which the bar is made, after said blank has been partially shaped; Fig. 2 is a side view of the blank shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side View of a finished bar; Fig. i is a plan view of the finished bar shown in Fig. 2; Fig.

' 5 is a side view of a bar made by folding the blank in opposite direction to that SloWIl in Figs. 3 and 4; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the bar of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. i; and Fig. 8 is a section of a modified shape, in which the bar maIy be made. I

ressed metal connecting bars have been heretofore made of thin sheet metal, turned or formed into shape, and havin cars at each end, said ears being perforate to form holes for connecting pivot pins. lft has been necessary in such constructions to either make the bar of a relatively thick plate in order to get sufficient bearing surface to hold the connecting pins, as forexample, the construction shown in Patent No. 840,- 237 issued January 1, 1907, to McGinnis, or, to forge the ears to form raised perforations about the pin holes, as for example shown in my prior Patent No. 1,240,493,

issued September 18, 1917.

The present construction secures all of the functions of the two prior patented constructions, while at the same time avoidingthe necessity of for ing the ends of the bar to secure suficient thic ness about the pin holes. The desired result is secured by rolling or drawing out the middle portion of the bar to a relatively thin plate. while leaving the ends and the jaw forming cars at each end of a greater thickness, namely, that desirable for the bounding walls of connecting pin holes.

The connecting bar shown in the drawings comprises an intermediate body portion 1, formed from pressed metal, preferably steel. A steel plate of suitable length and thickness is rolled or drawn or otherwise formed to make its middle portion 1 substantially thinner than its ends 2. The ends are punched and slotted to form ears 3 and 4,'with correspondingpin holes 5' and 6 therein. The ears 3 and at are left of the original thick ness of the plate from which the inter mediate body portion 1 has been reduced in thickness. The thickness of this original plate and of the ears 3 and l is sufiicient to give a good bearing surface to the pin holes 5 and 6 to prevent shearing of connect ing pins used to attach the bar to any desired members, and to prevent tearing out of the holes themselves.

After the punching and slotting operations, and after the intermediate portion of the blank has been reduced in thickness, the blank is bent or folded along its central longitudinal line to.the proper cross sectional shape, as for example that shown in Fig. 5, or to a more nearly tubular form, as for example that shown in Fig. 6. In this bending operation, the ears 3 and 4 are brought into parallel relation, spaced apart, with the holes 5 and 6 in alignment as shown at the ends of Fig. 4.

Theresult is a connecting bar of thin metal in its intermediate portion, with parallel ear portions of sufficient thickness to engage connectin pivot pins without shearing the pins and tearing out the holes. The thin intermediate portion is sufficiently reinforced by its shape to have the necessary strength for such rods. Such a construction roduces a bar of very small weight, considering its strength, yet one having all the advantages of a bar made from thick stock, so far as the connecting ears are concerned.

I claim:

1. A pressed steelconnecting bar, comrising' a blank formed at its ends with ongitudinal slots, and having its body portion partially folded on itself in cross section, the ends of said bar being uniformly thicker than the body portion.

2. A connecting bar comprising a one piece hollow body member provided with slots at each end to form pairs of parallel ears, said ears being of substantially uniform thickness throughout and having oppositely disposed apertures, the body member intermediate the roots of said slots being of a substantially uniform thickness less than that of the ears.

pairs of parallel ears, said'body member greater thickness throughout than the intermediate portion of the body member.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

' FREDERIC SCHAEFER. Witness:

ALICE A. TRILL. 

